Manchester City visits Tottenham Hotspur in yet another fixture of “you again? already?” weekend in the Premier League.
These two sides just met 17 days ago, and this weekend in general is filled with matches where the reverse fixture was staged less than three weeks ago. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Man City at Tottenham FYIs
Kick: Sun Feb 5, 4:30pm, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK
Starting XI Predictions: Man City Tottenham
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability: Man City 55% Draw 23% Tottenham 22%
PL Form: Man City WWLWD Tottenham WLLWL
PL Standing: Man City 2nd, 45 pts Tottenham 5th 36 pts
In looking at a potential first team on the sheet, manager Pep Guardiola has every player but one at his current disposal.
We were considering Rico Lewis (whose emergence and development led to the departure of Joao Cancelo late in the January transfer window) instead of Kyle Walker here, and maybe slotting in Julian Alvarez somewhere, with Jack Grealish or Riyad Mahrez then going to the bench.
While Phil Foden will be available, most likely, we think Pep will keep him on a pitch count for now.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Tottenham Hotspur
Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Ake; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Grealish, Mayrez, Haaland
Prediction: Man City 1, Tottenham 0
Not getting too silly or crazy here with this pick.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.